Subject: The necessary accessories of a banker

Assignment for the « Management & Motivation » course, realized by: Marie Bourdin, Tiffany Dewael, Fiona Crespin, Victor Benacceraf, Pierre Hebbinckuys, Alice Fournet, Hocine Ait Mammar and Monica Laurent

Grade: A

Introduction

Corporate culture, socialization and induction are essential to integrate a profession. A newcomer needs to feel at ease and integrated in the corporate profile. The corporate culture influences each of us in our professional and private life. Each profession has its own identity and dress codes. The way we act, dress, behave, speak at work is influenced by the working environment and the culture of the company. This is particularly true when working in the financial world. First, we will look at the importance of outfits and accessories for bankers, then we will explain the process of corporate culture and socialization to finish with the idea of debauchery, this image that never leaves bankers.

 

I- The flawless appearance of bankers: professional outfits in the financial world

Uniforms are very important in the professional life. Each profession has its own outfit. For instance, firemen are not dressed as bankers who wear suits. In most of the bank companies, wearing a suit is part of the work contract, like in the USB Company in Switzerland (Schepp 2010). The uniform represents the identity of the bank. It is also a way to be different from the competitors. An “appropriate” outfit depends and varies by company and culture (Letrent 2012).

In the financial world, bankers are almost dressed in the same way so it is important for them to be different from their colleagues by wearing a custom-made suit with cufflinks, by having the last trendy watch or a unique briefcase for instance. In « American psycho », Patrick Bateman wears a pinstripe suit to be different. Differentiation is done through details like having the best business card. Characters, business cards and close up are almost the same: they all belong to the same world, so details make the difference. The Blackberry mobile phone is important in the movie. Indeed, bankers always need to stay connected with their job and to keep in touch with their colleagues and clients. The most important things above all are accessories. Bankers can wear a very chic suit but if their accessories are old-fashioned, worn-out or don’t match their uniform, it will degrade the message and the image they want to give. In the financial world, suits symbolize seriousness and credibility. For the public opinion, wearing a suit represents competence, formalism and professionalism. According to Ray (2014), consumers judge their bankers by their appearance and have preconceived prejudices. Indeed, tattoos, facial piercing or long hair for instance are considered unprofessional. In the movie, the assistant is a girl; as a consequence she has to wear a dress or a skirt with high heel. It represents the image of bankers always escorted by beautiful and well-dressed woman.

In addition to clothes and accessories, cosmetics are also essential. At the beginning of the movie “American Psycho”, we can notice the beauty habits and rituals of Patrick Bateman every morning (lathering gel, skin exfoliation, facemask, aftershave without alcohol, tonic cream, eye contour cream and moisturising cream). The aim is to avoid growing old too fast to keep this image of young and charming man; an image that people want to see. Bankers keep in shape also to have the best reputation. We can even caricature them as clones.

Clark (2010) states that a flawless appearance brings security. Clients need to be reassured. Bankers’ outfits and status influence client’s decisions to invest or not. Indeed, Schepp (2010) explains that UBS provides guidelines to employees on how to dress. It aims at impressing clients when dealing with them. The main objective is also to foster greater confidence in the bank. Moreover, Keating (2005) teaches us that dress codes are a way to communicate for the business. It enables instant identification.

To sum up, banks still pay attention to their employees’ outfits because dress and person hygiene affect the public’s impression. They want a strict dress code in order to keep their sophisticated and serious image. Being well dressed means professionalism and competence. It represents the status and professional completion. Employees need to be dressed in a certain way to inspire confidence and credibility. A dress code is part of the culture of a company. Being a successful banker is first based on social relationship.

 

II- The process of socialization and integration

Schein (2004) defines culture as “a phenomenon created by our interactions with others and shaped by leadership behaviour, and a set of structures, rules, and norms that guide and constrain behaviour”. A newcomer in a company needs to understand the corporate culture. This process is called employee induction. According to Arachchige (2014), it refers to a process in which a new employee is introduced to his co-workers and learns about his working environment. It is the first contact he or her will have with the other members of the company. The aim is to bring out newcomers so that they feel at ease, welcome and thus, integrate the corporate profile rapidly. During this process, the new employee is informed about what the organization expects of him as well as the social and political norms. It enables newcomers to understand more efficiently the company they will work for. Employee induction aims at helping new arrivals fitting in well within the organization. They have to assimilate the values, the image and the organization’s culture to be well integrated and represent the company accurately. This is what Patrick Bateman tries to do in “American psycho”.

According to Korte (2009), socialization for newcomers in organization is essential. It helps the organization transferring and maintaining its culture. The aim is to satisfy the employee so that he can perform more efficiently and work harder. An employee not well integrated can act and behave against the company. The turnover can be affected which can cost a lot of money. Through this process of socialization, newcomers acquire and internalize the norms expected of their role. Korte’s research results show that co-workers are the more efficient way to learn the social norm. Building relationship through work groups is the essential driver of socialization for newcomers.

Due to socialization, bankers tend to act and behave in the same way. The expensive clothes and accessories in the movie: suits (Valentino), glasses (Oliver Peoples) and travel bag (Jean Paul Gautier) show that they control their lives. They follow the trends and fad. Their circle of friends has to be similar to them. The perfect job has to match the perfect life. This kind of life includes a perfect wife (like in the series “Desperate Housewives”). Everything materialistic is subject to comparison and showdown. Competition is omnipresent in the movie: the one with the best haircut, business card, who can book a table at the Dorcia’s restaurant, can get the Fisher account or the most expensive flat. The way they draw their business card like a weapon represents competition. Jealousy is omnipresent. Always be the best is a priority. The aim is to impress and show your success.

According to Keating (2005) dress codes are ways to identify an individual with a group or function. Indeed, in the movie, they all have thrown-back hair, bright clean hair, neither moustache nor beard, sophisticated suits, ties and gloves. In this way bankers are identifiable.

It also reflects their obsession with perfection. In this environment it is important to be seen, to develop relationship and business network. There are a lot of stereotypes regarding bankers. We expect people to be dressed in a certain way.

 

III- Debauchery: The two faces of the financial man.

Bankers are also known for debauchery. This is the overall image that movies, books, articles give to bankers. The stressful life and nerves of a banker, or a trader can explain this. After work, it is necessary to maintain relationship; « What happens in the evening, after the bell rang the stock exchange, is as important as what happens on the day » Turney Duff (one of the most famous trader).

The movie highlights the fact that bankers have two personalities. On the one hand, it is someone who work hard late at night, during weekends and holidays. He works in a very stressful environment. On the other hand, it is someone who likes having some fun to decompress. The more he will succeed, the more he will celebrate due to power and money. Party, sex, alcohol and drugs are part of a banker’s life as well as luxury cars, flats, clothes, etc… Some interpret this as a need of freedom, recognition or just as a part of the job.

Patrick Bateman spends most of his time with his teammate at work but also outside office hours. Most of his friends are his colleagues. Bankers are said to live in their own world with people like them. That is why celebrating or having sex is not taboo and they feel free to do whatever they want. Most of the money is spent on superficial things « vicious circle ». According to Weidner (2014) excess, addiction, mental health are linked to the pressure of the banker’s job.

 

Conclusion

To sum up the movie, we could say that it doesn’t matter what you look on the inside, as long as your outside looks like everyone else’s. It represents the superficial aspect of this work.

Dress codes that are imposed in the professional life alienate us and urge us to focus only on appearances. This profession is full of stereotypes. We can wonder if rules and dress codes are not too excessive. Clark (2010) explains that the UBS Company urges women to wear flesh-coloured underwear and skirts to 5cm below the knee. It may seem a bit exaggerated.

In a certain way, we can compare bankers to students. Indeed, in business schools, each oral presentation or assignment that we have to do necessitate work and rigor. Competition stays essential to succeed and stereotypes exist regarding business school students. We are asked to work, be serious but we are also tempted and encouraged to go out, have fun and participate to the integration weekend, which corresponds to the debauchery of bankers.

 

List of references

Arachchige (2014) “Absence of induction and its impact on the organization” The IUP journal of management research (13.10.2014)

Clark, A (2010) “UBS fashions the rules for banking chic” The guardian (online) available from < http://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/dec/19/ubs-bank-staff-dress-code > (15.10.2014)

Harron, M. (2000) “American Psycho” (movie)

Keating, M. (2005) “Do dress codes still matter?” The guardian (online) available from < http://www.theguardian.com/money/2005/dec/10/careers.work1 > (14.10.2014)

Korte (2009) How newcomers learn the social norms of an organization, Human Resource development quaterly, 20 (online) available from < http://www.engr.washington.edu/caee/caee_briefs_pdfs/hownewcomerslearn_korte_hrdq09.pdf > (13.10.2014)

Letrent, S (2012) “Decoding the workplace dress code” CNN (online) available from < http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/14/living/workplace-dress-code/ > (13.10.2014)

Luyendijk, J (2011) “Bankers: an anthropological study” the guardian (online) available from < http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/sep/14/bankers-anthropological-study-joris-luyendijk > (16.10.2014)

Ray, L. (2014) “Dress attire for the banking industry” Small business (online) available from < http://smallbusiness.chron.com/dress-attire-banking-industry-21546.html > (16.10.2014)

Schein, E, H. (2004) Organizational culture and leadership, John Wiley (13.10.2014)

Schepp, D (2010) “UBS to employees: We’re bankers and must dress like bankers” daily finance (online) available from < http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/12/16/ubs-employees-get-dress-code-for-bankers/ > (14.10.2014)

Weidner, D. (2014) The myth of sex, drugs and money on Wall street (online) available from <http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-myth-of-sex-drugs-and-money-on-wall-street-2014-02-18 > (13.10.2014)